When Renee Deckrow bought Ashman Plaza with her husband Aaron Deckrow five years ago, she never knew it would turn into the hub of empowerment for her community that it is today.

She wanted to not only "breathe new life" into the building at 713 Ashman Street, but wanted it to be part of the neighborhood and serve the community.

Live Oak Coffeehouse opened in the building at the beginning of this year, and was "the final piece of the puzzle," Deckrow said. Alongside her fellow community members, Deckrow spearheaded a neighborhood association for Midland's Midtown community that meets every month at Live Oak.

The atmosphere Live Oak brings to Ashman Plaza "begs for groups like this to get together and talk," said Daniel Terhune, Live Oak's manager.

"Our vision is for people just to come and get to know each other," Deckrow said. "I believe good things happen over a conversation and I feel like that's what we need more of - face-to-face."

A small group of businesses and community members in Midtown started meeting in August for once-monthly discussions over coffee. City council and town hall meetings are important for people to be aware of, Deckrow said, but there's "something different" about talking informally in a coffeehouse setting.

"It's about getting to know the people, there's no agenda," Deckrow said. "It's just let's get to know our neighbors, and let's give them a place to connect."

The main goals of the group, dubbed Midtown Midland Neighborhood Association, are to create neighborhood relationships, facilitate a safe platform for community members to share concerns, and represent interests of the neighborhood before Midland City Council or other appropriate agencies.

"The meetings started introducing neighbors to each other that have lived down the road from each other for years," Terhune said. "It's a slightly more formalized way to invite neighbors specifically to come out and be a part of the conversation, and own their community."

People don't really have a natural way to meet their neighbors in society anymore, Terhune said. Simply meeting people you live next to is an important function of neighborhood associations, he said.

"If you know your neighbors and your neighbors know you, you're more likely to watch out for them and vice versa," Terhune said.

A slew of developments have reinvigorated Midtown in recent years, including new businesses housed in Ashman Plaza and Bricks Real Estate Experts redeveloping the building across the street.

"I had a big vision of just restoring life to this building, but I didn't know what that would look like," Deckrow said. "So it's been really fun to have that come into focus."

Deckrow has created an environment at Ashman Plaza that caters to businesses and organizations that all share a goal of empowering people, she explained.

Different groups meet in the coffeehouse and gymnasium upstairs for a variety of things including: group fitness classes, worship and swing dancing. Other businesses in the building include a hair dresser, counseling services, photography studio, nonprofits, a wood fire pizza kitchen, oxygen business, art studio, and a business incubator.

"People here are all like-minded and community oriented," Deckrow said. "They all have the same goal of empowering people, but they all have a different take on it."

Midland's Midtown neighborhood is considered the link between the Center City district and Midland's downtown. The area is a mix of residential homeowners and businesses. The mixed development has the potential to create friction, and makes it even more important to have an open dialogue between neighbors, Terhune explained.

"There is such a kind of melting pot in the heart of Midland, caught between a struggling district in Center City and a district that is rebuilding downtown," Terhune said.

The community association has "boundaries" to give community members an idea of what Midtown is, but it is meant to be a vague guideline, Deckrow and Terhune said.

"It's such a small area to define dividing lines between areas," Terhune said. "We're not going to kick anyone out."

The next Midtown Midland Neighborhood Association meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on Dec. 10 at Live Oak Coffeehouse. More information about the group and future meeting dates can be found on the Midtown Midland Neighborhood Association Facebook page.